NITI Aayog - Government To Outsource Govt Services And Bring In Private Talent

Interesting. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/outsource-government-services-and-bring-in-private-sector-talent-recommends-niti-aayog/articleshow/58441779.cms?from=mdr

Startup Lessons

https://www.techinasia.com/talk/lessons-2-failed-startups

Genius - Albert Einstein's Personal Side - TV Show On National Geographic

This is a nice show around 9PM or  10 PM on Nat Geo. I think the first chapter / episode was on Apr 25th. And it comes once every week. Next on May 2nd.

Episode guide: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/genius/articles/a-first-look-at-genius/

See this review:http://ew.com/tv/2017/04/25/genius-ew-review-albert-einstein-sex/ and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5673782/

His (female) secretary tells him: "“For a man who is an expert on the universe, you don’t know the first thing about people, do you?”"

I always thought Einstein was bad in studies while at school. When I saw the first episode I realized I was completely wrong.

Why Cost Of Living Will Plummet

https://singularityhub.com/2016/07/18/why-the-cost-of-living-is-poised-to-plummet-in-the-next-20-years/#.WPpWn9J_IS4.whatsapp

Walking Up And Down Stairs Gives You Energy

http://www.hindustantimes.com/fitness/walking-up-the-stairs-more-effective-than-caffeine-to-give-you-energy-boost/story-qzOrIuF6TR4yPi94xB82MI.html

Failures And Mediocrity

• https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/shortcuts/2017/apr/19/museum-failure-samuel-west-sweden
• https://hbr.org/2017/04/what-to-do-about-mediocrity-on-your-team?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harvardbusiness+%28HBR.org%29

Additional reading:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/19/facebook-friends-message-overload-human-online

How Good Is British Legacy For India

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-04-11/legacy-of-british-rule-is-still-holding-india-back

Passive Aggression, Understanding Emotional Content

Handling Passive Aggression: http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_stop_passive_aggression_from_ruining_your_relationship?utm_source=Greater+Good+Science+Center&utm_campaign=f274497438-GG_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5ae73e326e-f274497438-51673647

Interesting quote from http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/whats_the_best_strategy_for_empathy/updated: "Together, these experiments suggest that people’s intuitions about how to best understand another person’s perspective are often mistaken—they overestimate how well outer behavior reflects inner states, and they underestimate the insights that can be gained from putting themselves in another person’s shoes:

SouthWestern We Are In, United We Are Out

We would have heard about the passenger who was asked to give up his confirmed seat. Here is a nice legal analysis of the incident: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-11/can-airlines-really-do-that-bumping-and-the-law-quicktake-q-a

Nature Or Nurture - Lovely Presentation

https://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_chalks_it_up_to_the_blank_slate?language=en#t-1055702

Beating Amazon In China

Chinese counterfeiters beat Amazon: https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2017/01/12/why-amazon-is-losing-its-battle-against-chinese-counterfeiters/#15a72abe585c

It is interesting that Amazon got roundly beaten in China and Amazon itself is listed in one of Alibaba's sites. Something like Fortis MD going to Apollo Hospitals for a checkup.

Guess The Gender Of The Dog

A friend of mine had once taught me to estimate the age of a woman by just looking at her from behind. 

Now can any of you guess the gender of the dog below?

A brief background. This dog used to bark at me and chase me. But of late (s)he wags her tail and plops on my lap as I sit on the park bench - see below - at times even licking my mouth. I don't what caused this camaraderie.

Anyway coming back to my question... if you have not been able to figure out the gender.. I took a picture of the dog and showed the picture to him/her. And this was his interest in his own picture.

Male dogs, like males of most species, aren't very particular about pouting and selfies.

Thanking Someone

Apparently thanking someone for doing a mundane job makes them even want to do the job as per http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_to_thank_your_partner_for_doing_the_chores?utm_source=Greater+Good+Science+Center&utm_campaign=4c23a941d7-GG_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_05&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5ae73e326e-4c23a941d7-51673647. Wonderful. 

I have a friend who religiously and routinely thanks people for mundane jobs. And she doesn't differentiate between thanking for a routine "taking the garbage out" to being there in an emotionally traumatic situation - making one wonder whether all one did was take the garbage out or just passed the cup.

On Forgiving:

1. http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/nine_ways_to_help_siblings_get_along_better?utm_source=Greater+Good+Science+Center&utm_campaign=4c23a941d7-GG_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_05&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5ae73e326e-4c23a941d7-51673647

How To Be More Patient

Imagine the consequences of an action: http://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/how-you-can-trick-yourself-into-being-more-patient/615720/

Singapore Fines And Expels Tamil Imam

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/singapore-expels-imam-for-divisive-speech/article17784563.ece

This is interesting and good news - wish we could do it in India too when people indulge in divisive speeches. Or is one supposed to have such freedom of expression? In case of the imam in Singapore he was expelled. 

What does one do when a citizen of the country does the same thing - for example when Muslims in UP plot jihad against Indians as a friend of mine, who is from UP, told me? Where do you expel them to? To Singapore?